Impacting Students in the Northern Region

In all the years I have been involved with chaplaincy, this year has been the most unpredictable yet possibly the most memorable. There are days when I ask myself “What am I doing here?” and yet I have the assurance that I am planted here, for this season, for a purpose outside of my understanding.

This year I’ve needed to hone the skills I’ve learned through life experiences, to give students tangible projects to invest themselves in. This has been really valuable amidst the uncertainty going on around them. I have been running a program called ‘Hands on Learning’, connecting with students through constructing practical projects. During times of on-site schooling, I had a group of students design and build an outdoor Pizza Oven. They learned how to mix and pour concrete, lay bricks as well as how to get sand and gravel in all parts of their clothing!

During lock down, when there are only a small number of students coming to school, I’ve been taking groups of students and teaching them how to use some basic hand tools to make a bird feeder or a bug house, using recycled pallet timber. Just recently I was asked to connect with a couple of boys with social and academic challenges. Participating in a woodwork project to build a bird feeder to hang in their backyard, saw these kids start to be keen to come to school.

The most important thing in being a chaplain for me is being available for God to use me in whatever way He chooses. I am a very practical person and this is often the gateway God provides me for building relationships and making an impact with students.